Posts tagged ‘Dark Places’

Most spiders have eight eyes. There are also six-eyed, four-eyed and two-eyed spiders. Some species of spiders that live in cave and other dark places have no eyes at all. A spider’s eyes are on the top and near the front of its head.

Even though a spider has so many eyes, it can only see things a few inches from its face. To make up for their nearsightedness, spiders have a very strong sense of touch and taste. Special hairs on the spider’s body contain nerves. These nerves act as “ears, nose and tongue” to sense danger, as well as to locate food.–Dick Rogers

The whiskers on an animal’s face are organs of touch. They help the animal sense what going on around it. Scientists call whiskers vibrissae (vi-BRIS-see). These long, sensitive hairs are most helpful to animals that prowl about in dark places.

A cat’s whiskers brush against objects the cat might not see as it hunts at night. Whiskers help some animals find food. The whiskers on a seal’s face are helpful in detecting fish in the dark or cloudy water. And the thick whiskers on a walrus’s upper lip help it to feel for clams in the ocean bottom.–Dick Rogers